#Vaccines #Disabilities #Misinformation

Liam Starr
Category: Health/Politics/History
Industry: Healthcare/Parenting/Politics
Location: Global/ United States
Related to: Political Grounds/Health and Body
Reviewer: Liam Starr, School of Design Strategies, Integrated Design
Company: N/A
Website: nytimes.com

The idea of being anti-vaccine baffles many of us; we cannot fathom why if a treatment is available for a harmful or even deadly disease that we may not take it. But the anti-vaccine “industry” is one mostly made up of concerned parents, with warped (but occasionally supported) thinking that vaccines actually cause more harm than good, including increasing the risks of autism and other mental disabilities. The controversy and rise of these claims even prompted Donald Trump to tweet about it during his political campaign, yet has not mentioned it since. The article below analyzes Texas, a state with the lowest vaccination rate—specifically for measles, as there has been a major outbreak in the recent past. It does, however, show a need for more intensive and public medical knowledge to become available. The article concludes, “Perpetuating phony theories about vaccines and autism isn’t going to help them — and it’s not going to help children on the autism spectrum, either.”